An individual difference perspective on student diversity

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among various aspects of learning styles/strategies and personality dimensions to arrive at a “thicker” description of individual differences in functioning in general and in the school context in particular. An exploratory factor analysis of the subscales of the Inventory of Learning Processes-Revised and the NEO-Personality Inventory provided evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of six higher-order common factors. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to differentially predict ILP-R subscales from NEO-PI subscales. The analyses were conducted separately for students identified as having high versus low academic self-esteem. The results support previous findings that self-concept variables strongly moderate relationships among personality and learning style dimensions. We discuss how the cross-fertilization between personality and learning theory and research enables us to better define what individual differences in learning consist of, how they originate, how they are manifested, what furthers or hinders their expression, and finally, to what extent they are amenable to change (maturation, development, training). Implications for school achievement, cognitive development and the productive use of individual differences in educational practice are discussed with regard to different types of learners.